Perry Farrell: Record Labels Have "Done Their Best to Destroy Really Good Music"

Jason Newman

Perry Farrell

Jane's Addiction'sPerry Farrell has never been one to snip his tongue when discussing the state of the music industry. So when Fuse sat down with him backstage at Beale St. Music Festival, we asked him about the shift in recent years from albums to singles.

"I blame the record companies because I feel like most of [them] are really lame and they've done their best to destroy really good music," said Farrell. "I'll be fine, but the young musicians are the ones that aren't getting signed because they're not pop idiots and that's the sad part about it. They're trying to find a pop sensation to appeal to tweens; whoever's going to buy the records. Who buys records anymore? Tweens, because they don't know how to steal a record yet."

The singer also discussed why a Jane's Addiction show is more than just listening to the record. "If you're going to come out and see us, you want to see a show, don't you?," asked Farrell. "We've always been extremely theatrical. We have dancers. We have props. A little bit of crazy illusion. We were working with this young team of illusionists to come up with something that, in case people were nodding off, they would watch somebody walking across the stage but they didn't have a body."

Watch the whole thing in the video above. We also got Farrell to discuss how Jane's Addiction has changed over the years and how he went about choosing this year's diverse Lollapalooza lineup in the video below. Check it out.